Birmingham Form : WDDWWL
Fifth place play seventh in this weekend's Friday night Championship game. Ipswich Town bounced back from their 5-1 defeat to Reading last Friday with a 1-0 away win at Leeds and will hope to add another 3 points to their tally with a win in their first home game this month. Birmingham started the season with a 5 game unbeaten run before losing away on Tuesday night at Nottingham Forest and will be hoping to bounce back by taking 3 points at Ipswich. The hosts have scored 12 in their first 7 league games in comparison with the visitors 11 goals in 6 therefore showing that both teams are likely to score. The worry for Ipswich is that they have conceded 12 goals whereas Birmingham have looked good defensively having only conceded 7. If Ipswich defend as poorly as they did away at Reading a week ago then they could be in for another big defeat and they'll have a tough task in scoring against a Birmingham side that have kept a clean sheet in 1/3 of their games so far. Birmingham boss Gary Rowett benefits from having a fully fit side for tonight's game whereas, despite Mick McCarthy having midfielder Cole Skuse and striker Freddie Sears after they recovered from midweek injuries, he could be without midfielder Ryan Fraser who will be assessed after picking up a knock against Leeds. The fact that Ipswich are unbeaten in their last seven against Birmingham will be like music to the ears of Ipswich fans however records are made to be broken so it doesn't guarantee a good result. The home side will be hesitant of letting their visitors shoot as Birmingham have the best conversion rate in the league as of yet, scoring from 22% of shots. The players to look out for in this game are Sears and Mcgoldrick in particular for Ipswich as they have 7 goals between them in all competitions so far and the worrying thing for Birmingham is that even if they shut these two down, 9 players have scored for Ipswich this season showing how dangerous they are attacking wise. For Birmingham, Clayton Donaldson has been the star man as he leads the Championship assist charts with 4 assists and has also contributed 3 goals. Similar to Ipswich though, goals have come from many options with 9 players also contributing for the Midlands club in all competition. Overall, I'm predicting a goal fest tonight in what should be a great advertisement for the Championship as two evenly matched clubs face off at 7:45 and it would be well worth tuning in to tonight.
Woody Predicts : 2-2
Grimsby Town vs Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Form : WWDWLLDDWD
Seventh play Eighth in a highly anticipated game in the Conference tonight. Grimsby finished 3rd last year and 4th in the two years prior to that yet fell to disappointment in the playoffs so this year they'll be aiming to rectify that disappointment. They host recently relegated Tranmere Rovers who will also be looking to bounce back into the Football League straight away. When looking at their form, it's a tale of two patterns however, when you look at what's next in the pattern for both teams, you'll see that a loss is due for both so due to the impossibility of this scenario, the form pattern has no bearing on the result. The last time these sides met was in 2009 in a League Cup tie which saw Tranmere 4-0 victors on that day however, with both sides now in the same league, I'm sure we'll see a more even game. Grimsby have managed to find the net on 22 occasions so far this season, more than any other team in the league, proving that they can be a constant threat to teams whereas Tranmere have scored 8 less goals than their hosts with the knowledge that Grimsby have scored just as many goals at home as they have in total. With that in mind, Grimsby are yet to play a team in the top 5 this season so the game tonight against Tranmere will surely be there biggest test this campaign. The hosts are likely to name an unchanged squad for the third game in a row as they have a clean bill of health. Tranmere Rovers however may be missing arguably their most consistent performer in Liam Ridehalgh as fans have questioned whether he is suffering from injury having missed the game on Tuesday however this is just a rumour and he may well be in the line up for tonight's game. There is a slight chance they will be without Andy Mangan and Jay Harris for the game after they both picked up knocks on Tuesday night however there is a high chance that they could still feature. Both sides have equal home and away records therefore pointing the results most likely outcome to be a draw. The key players for the hosts are strikers Bogle and Amond who have notched up 13 goals between them however, Tranmere will also have to be weary of Monkhouse as the midfielder already has 3 goals this season so the visitors will have to defend well. For the visitors, midfielder Jay Harris and striker James Norwood are vital to the success of the team. Norwood is a clinical finisher who has played very well over the years for Forest Green and is capable of being a match winner, so the Grimsby defenders will have to be on top form in order to shut him down quick and not let him have a glimpse of goal. Overall, this is another game that I see both teams scoring in however I think the form of the Grimsby forwards will prove to be the deciding factor in the result in this match.
Woody Predicts : 3-2
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